TRUTH IN RHYTHM Podcast: Gerry Thomas (Fatback Band and Jimmy Castor Bunch) Part 3 of 3

Brought to you by FUNKNSTUFF.NET and hosted by Scott Goldfine — musicologist and author of “Everything Is on the One: The First Guide of Funk” ― “TRUTH IN RHYTHM” is the interview show that gets DEEP into the pocket with contemporary music’s foremost masters of the groove.

Featured in part 3 of 3 parts: Keyboardist, trumpet player, composer and producer Gerry Thomas, a central figure with not one but two of the most prominent funk-R&B bands of the 1970s — the Fatback Band and the Jimmy Castor Bunch. He recorded some 30 albums between the two.

The Fatback Band, founded by drummer Bill Curtis, released many funkified tracks including “(Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop,” “(Do the Spanish Hustle,” “I Like Girls,” “Gotta Get My Hands on Some (Money),” “Backstrokin’,” “King Tim III (Personality Jock),” “Freak the Freak the Funk (Rock),” “Let’s Do It Again” and “Hip So Slick.” The Jimmy Castor Bunch’s danceable delights included “Troglodyte (Cave Man),” “Luther the Anthropoid (Ape Man),” “The Bertha Butt Boogie,” “King Kong,” “Supersound” and “Space Age.”

Heavily influenced by the horn-driven syncopations of James Brown and the J.B.’s, Fatback Band albums were parties on wax with festive songs setting just about anyone within earshot in motion, grooving to the funk, soul, Latin, disco, New Orleans and reggae rhythms. Find out how all that wonderful music came to be and hear lots of amazing stories with one of the primary parties responsible — Mr. Gerry Thomas.